The Wallace Collection owns and an outstanding collection of Venetian views by Antonio Canaletto and Francesco Guardi. Some of Canaletto’s paintings were acquired by the 1st Marquess of Hertford and mark the beginning of art collecting in the family.

Bookmarkable URLThe Riva degli Schiavoni depicts a view still familiar today, with its gondolas bobbing on the water before the Doge’s Palace on the left. The columns of San Todaro and of the Lion of Saint Mark stand on the Piazzetta in front of the Palace, with the Ponte della Paglia and the Prison beyond. Both views were very popular with Canaletto’s patrons: they were engraved in 1742 by Visentini, and at least five other sets are known. Although somewhat pedestrian in execution, the Wallace Collection’s pictures are generally accepted as by Canaletto, and may be dated c.1740-5.

Bookmarkable URLThis view of Venice is taken from the Grand Canal, looking north-east towards the district of Cannaregio. The church of San Simeone Piccolo can be seen on the right and the church of Santa Lucia (now demolished) is just in view on the left. When the 4th Marquess of Hertford bought the picture at Christie's in 1859, at it was considered to be a major work by Canaletto. Today, however, it is believed to be by a follower of the master. The scene does not occur among Canaletto’s known views of Venice, which suggests that this artist was consciously attempting to differentiate his work from that of the Venetian master.

Bookmarkable URLThis picture is one of a set of four paintings purchased by the 4th Marquess of Hertford in 1865 (see P491, P503 and P508). The paintings were highly regarded in the 19th century and, until recently, were still considered to the only set of four topographical views by Guardi still together. However, a difference in style, technique and composition revealed by conservation work suggests that whilst the present picture is undoubtedly a pendant to P508, P491 and P503 probably form a separate pairing.

P494 shows a view across the mouth of the Grand Canal looking towards the Dogana (customs house). The island of Giudecca, with the domed church of Santa Maria della Presentazione (commonly known as Le Zitelle) prominent on the shoreline, can be seen in the distance. Guardi painted several views of the Dogana, although from varying viewpoints and distances (for example in the National Gallery, London).

Recent conservation work and technical analysis of the present picture has revealed the existence of an earlier composition under the painted surface, which seems to correspond to another finished painting by Guardi, The Doge in the Bucintoro Departing for the Lido (now in the Louvre, Paris). The Louvre picture, which shows the Ascension Day ceremony, is one of a series of 12 pictures painted by Guardi in the 1770s, after engraved versions of original designs by Canaletto, all of which commemorate the ceremonies and festivals marking the 1763 coronation of the Doge Alvise Giovanni Mocenigo. Another version of the same scene painted by a different, less competent, artist is also in the Wallace Collection (see P513).

Why Guardi decided to abandon this earlier work after Canaletto remains unclear. However, as the present picture demonstrates, Guardi seems to have been eager to distance his work from that of his predecessor by painting a more generalized view with scope for invention. With its palette of intense turquoise blues, dashes of reds and yellows, tremulous lines and taut detailed brushwork, this painting clearly demonstrates how Guardi imparted a new sense of excitement, movement and atmosphere to the Venetian view.

Bookmarkable URLThis picture is one of a set of four paintings purchased by the 4th Marquess of Hertford in 1865 (see P491, P508 and P494). The paintings were highly regarded in the 19th century and, until recently, were still considered to the only set of four topographical views by Guardi still together. However, a difference in style, technique and composition revealed by conservation work suggests that whilst the present picture is undoubtedly a pendant to P491, P508 and P494 probably form a separate pairing.

Both P491 and the present picture can be dated to the 1780s, when Guardi’s less meticulous approach was particularly prevalent. The overall impression is atmospheric and generalised – qualities which distinguish Guardi’s works from the detailed and precise observations of his major predecessor, Canaletto.

P503 shows a view across the Grand Canal, looking towards the Santa Maria della Salute. Paintings of Venice showing the domes of Santa Maria della Salute – the pre-eminent Baroque church in Venice, and the focal point of this stretch of the Grand Canal – were particularly popular in the 18th century. Here, Guardi has deliberately widened the mouth of the Grand Canal in order to provide a more impressive watery stage for this monumental building. This is characteristic of Guardi’s later work, in which the artist often enlarged spaces or rearranged buildings for pictorial effect. The composition exists in several versions (for example in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottowa) and several related drawings are known.

Bookmarkable URLThis sculpture bears a false signature of the French sculptor Claude-Augustin Cayot (1677-1722) and the date 1706, but was recently identified as being in fact an important work by the Florentine sculptor Filippo della Valle. In 1732 Della Valle dedicated an engraving to Francesco Gaburri identifying the sculpture as his own work. Why and when it acquired Cayot’s ‘signature’ is unknown, but a French identity would have probably assisted its sale in Paris to either the 4th Marquess of Hertford or Sir Richard Wallace. Terracotta and porcelain versions of the sculpture are known. Although adult lovers in the original tale, in art Cupid and Psyche are frequently depicted as children.